Today’s arguments at the Supreme Court were 90 minutes on the issue of whether the Court has jurisdiction to decide the constitutional questions now, or if the challengers must wait until the individual mandate and its associated penalties begin in 2014. The audio and transcript of today’s arguments are now available from the Court.
Not a great deal of action today, particularly since both the government and the PPACA challengers want the Court to decide the case now. Due to this unusual alignment, the Court had to appoint an attorney, Robert A. Long, to argue that the case should not be heard until after 2014. Given the Court’s questions, many consider that the Court is inclined to decide the constitutional question now, which will provide some much-needed predictability, as noted in these articles from the Washington Post, New York Times, and NPR.
Tomorrow’s topic — constitutionality of the individual mandate — will be the main event. Stay tuned.
